Private home sales volume appeared to remain robust in August, despite it being a typically slow sales month.

“Demand in August seemed to have been sustained, despite the typically taboo Ghost Month,” said Colliers International’s head of research (Singapore) Tricia Song.

As at 12 September, Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Realis data showed that developers sold 1,122 new homes in August, excluding executive condominiums (ECs). Including ECs, developers moved 1,167 units, reported The Business Times.

Parc Clematis is the top selling project, with 316 units sold in August. Other earlier launched projects that continued to witness a steady stream of buyers include The Florence Residences, which sold 122 units, Treasure at Tampines (93 units) and Parc Botannia (60 units). Parc Esta and Piermont Grand EC sold 47 units and 44 units, respectively.

“Despite the global economic uncertainties and the Chinese lunar seventh month, over 1,000 new homes were sold last month. Last month’s sales volume is considered strong as it is almost on a par with July’s. The month of July usually records higher than average monthly sales in a year, and the sales volume for July 2019 was the highest for this year,” said OrangeTee & Tie head of research & consultancy Christine Sun.

Excluding ECs, developers moved 1,178 private homes in July and 1,556 units, including ECs. Meanwhile, buyers only snapped 617 private homes in August 2018. Savills’ executive director for research and consultancy Alan Cheong attributed the muted demand then to the roll-out of property cooling measures in July and the last-minute launch of three mega projects on 5 July which saw a fair number of buyers trying to beat the curbs’ deadline.

“Most developers avoid the lunar seventh month for project launches and as a result, sales volumes tend to be lower. However, 2019 could be the exception. The lunar seventh month ended on Aug 29, giving developers the flexibility to decide whether they should launch on the last weekend of August,” said Huttons Asia’s research director Lee Sze Teck. In fact, Luxus Hills’ Signature Collection and Parc Clematis were both launched during that weekend to “spectacular results”, he added.

Looking ahead, JLL’s head of Singapore research Tay Huey Ying expects launch activities to “resume in September and the months after, given it will be in the interest of developers to ramp up new launches to beat the additional buyer’s stamp duty deadline”. Upcoming projects in the pipeline include the 219-unit Midtown Bay, 200-unit Meyer Mansion and 116-unit Uptown @ Farrer, she added.

Avenue South Residence was already launched earlier in September, while The Antares is also set for launch this month.